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NPDC to revive Rizal Park with more indigenous trees

By Catherine Teves

August 16, 2019, 7:33 pm

MANILA – The government aims to further showcase the richness and beauty of Philippine plant biodiversity at Rizal Park to help promote tourism that is enjoyable and educational while raising public awareness about the need to conserve the country's natural resources.

“We plan to have more indigenous trees in Rizal Park,” said Eduardo Villalon Jr., planning chief of National Parks Development Committee (NPDC), which has jurisdiction over the historic area in Manila.

Among indigenous trees, he said the flowering types appropriate for Rizal Park are NPDC’s priority for planting and growing.

“Such species’ flowers will help liven up the park,” he said.

NPDC plans to mark the trees with signs identifying what these species are, he noted.

“That way, one’s visit to the park will be a learning experience as well,” he said.

Having more trees in Rizal Park will also help improve environmental conditions and temper heat, enhancing the area’s capability to promote people's well-being.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), among the benefits of parks and other green urban spaces are facilitating physical activity and relaxation as well as aiding treatment of mental illness.

“Recent estimates show that physical inactivity, linked to poor walkability and lack of access to recreational areas, accounts for 3.3 percent of global deaths,” WHO noted.

NPDC said that Rizal Park, also known as Luneta Park, came from the French word "lunette" referring to a crescent-shaped fort.

The park's name was "Bagumbayan" during the time Spain ruled the Philippines.

Proclamation 299 series of 1967 renamed the area as Rizal Park in honor of the country’s national hero Dr. Jose Rizal, who was executed by Spanish authorities in Bagumbayan in 1896.

Park operations chief Rosalina Tenepere said that based on latest available NPDC inventory, Rizal Park has a total of 3,497 trees with 112 species as of 2015.

“Since our focus is on indigenous trees appropriate for Rizal Park, donation and planting of these species is most welcome,” she said.

She said NPDC will determine the trees’ location within Rizal Park.

Among possible locations for the trees are proposed green pocket areas, she noted.

NPDC’s existing master plan calls for development of such areas.

Plant species inventoried in Rizal Park included 527 trees of narra, the country's national tree.

Executive Order 30 series of 1963 created NPDC, tasking the agency with developing Rizal Park and other national parks to promote wholesome recreation and socio-cultural education in the country.

Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) is open to helping NPDC achieve such goal.

“We’re very much willing to provide technical assistance and seedlings,” DENR-National Capital Region Dir. Jacqueline Caancan said earlier.

During the 14th Congress, then-Senator Manny Villar filed SB 1801 which proposed a 10-year green modernization program for Rizal Park.

“This Act endeavors to rehabilitate and to revive by re-greening, modernizing and promoting the total development of Luneta Park, making it achieve its status of a relevant citizen-friendly ecological, tourist and cultural site,” he said in SB 1801.

He filed SB 1801, noting the park “is a symbol not just of Manila but of the country’s heritage” but deteriorated already.

“It’s no longer the garden of greens and trees as envisioned,” he said in SB 1801. “It no longer affords the respite needed by citizens. In recent years, there are reports that it has become the free refuge for vagrants, a haven for cheap flesh trade. Luneta must be revived again as a modern green park with lush and healthy environment. It is the objective of this bill to bring back the glory of Luneta Park,” he said. (PNA)

 

 

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